Frozen door

[Keziah]

Hello everyone! this morning i went out to give my girls water, and i couldn't open their door... i tried pulling on it and i tried very hard, but it just won't budge... do yall have any recommendations on what to do?

 

[PirateGirl]

a hairdryer if you have electric

boil a kettle of water on the stove and pour hot water on the hinges etc. if you don't

 

[sylviethecochin]

Re-read title of post. Felt like an idiot.

Yeah. Hot water is your friend. If you can get a scraper in between door and wall and wiggle it, that might help crack the ice.

In the meantime, can your chickens get out? Maybe put a pan of water outside for them.

 

[Crooked Chicken]

I've had the same problem with the gate door for the run attached to the coop. I am going to go spray the hinges with WD40 and see if that helps. I would think if you pour hot water on them you will have to repeat that every time and will end up with a large slab of ice at your feet.

 

[Alaskan]

Depending on the temps... pouring hot water (hot soapy water works better and stays liquid longer due to the soap in the water) on the door might work if it isn't too cold. If you are close to zero or way below zero (in F), any kind of water might be a horrid choice.

A very hot hair dryer is great, or any other heat producing device.

Once you get it open, clean out all edges, dry the edges and spray all edges of the door and frame with a non-stick spray or wd40 with silicone.

 

[flyin-lowe]

We had an ice storm recently and I had a very thick layer of ice over the entire coop. Some places it was close to an inch thick. I took a small torch that connects to the small bottles of gas. Obviously I was very careful not to burn the thing down but that's what it took to get in. I hit the hinges and latches first then just ran it around the gap of the door. I never had to get the flame in contact, it was hot enough an inch or so away that it took care of the ice quickly.

 

[Acre4Me]

Once you get it open, clean out all edges, dry the edges and spray all edges of the door and frame with a non-stick spray or wd40 with silicone

Note to self: Add to Fall chore list!

Actually, we managed to get a roof over the 6 feet from coop door in before the winter. We definitely would have had problems if we had not managed a roof. The door needs to be re-done anyway, so any ice would have been a real problem!

 

[Alaskan]

We had an ice storm recently and I had a very thick layer of ice over the entire coop. Some places it was close to an inch thick. I took a small torch that connects to the small bottles of gas. Obviously I was very careful not to burn the thing down but that's what it took to get in. I hit the hinges and latches first then just ran it around the gap of the door. I never had to get the flame in contact, it was hot enough an inch or so away that it took care of the ice quickly.

Yeah, a small blow torch is great.

I have 2.